Mallory Gabsi

The Belgian thread in Mallory Gabsi’s cooking is clearest in his eel. His version of anguille au vert, the Flemish dish built around fish and green herbs, combines a beer glaze with the sharpness of its herbal accompaniments. It captures the appeal of this rue des Acacias restaurant: familiar foundations, carefully worked sauces and combinations that bring acidity and bitterness into a generous meal.

The chef and the tasting-menu formats

Gabsi opened the restaurant bearing his name in 2022, after training and working in Belgian kitchens and reaching the semi-final of France’s Top Chef. His background joins French culinary technique to the food of his Brussels childhood. The restaurant earned its Michelin star in 2023. Here, that training comes through in reductions, stocks and emulsions that give a plate its direction, rather than simply decorating the main ingredient. The kitchen describes sauce as its starting point; rhubarb, citrus or a slightly bitter herb can then change the balance.

The tasting menus offer different lengths of that conversation. Les Sens runs through four sequences, while Turquoise stretches to seven. A three-course weekday lunch gives a shorter introduction, and an à la carte selection is offered at lunchtime. The published seasonal combinations include langoustine with bergamot and verbena, turbot with courgette and mussels, and veal with blue lobster and Comté. They suggest a kitchen comfortable moving between seafood, meat and vegetables, with sauces connecting the elements. The exact dishes change with the season.

Desserts, warm wood and turquoise columns

Desserts continue the same interest in contrasts. Tobacco, vanilla and coffee appear together in one published composition; another seasonal dessert joins vine peach, marjoram and rye bread. These are individual dishes with their own character, rather than a predictable sweet ending to a rich menu. Alcohol-free pairings are available alongside the wine and other drinks pairings, with a separate pairing format for each tasting menu.

The room gives that cooking a warm, close setting. Rust-coloured velvet banquettes, glossy wood panels and cream stone tables sit beside patterned armchairs and turquoise columns. Slim cylindrical lights and copper lamps pick out the tables and kitchen area. The open kitchen keeps the preparation visible from parts of the dining room, while mirrors extend the view without making the restaurant feel like a large dining hall. Custom ceramics, Bernardaud plates and Christofle cutlery bring another set of textures to the table.

The alcove and the open-kitchen tables

For a smaller gathering, the curtained alcove holds up to five guests around a round table within its curved wooden surround. Larger tables face the open kitchen; the restaurant also offers complete private hire. The address lies just north of the Arc de Triomphe, on the rue des Acacias side of Étoile. It makes a distinctive weekday lunch or dinner in this part of Paris, with the choice between a shorter meal, a longer tasting sequence and a more secluded table shaping the visit.